I measure the success and worth of a day (at least in small part) by the number of bolas people offer me while walking around town. Yes, I could pay to get where I need to be via moto. But why would I pay when I can walk, carrying my big bright yellow helmet (classy? no, perhaps confusing to the locals - no one wears helmets here), knowing someone will usually offer me a free ride anyway? That sounds horrible, I realize, but maybe other PCV’s can understand. And today its been 3 free rides in the last 3 hours. So with the help of people carting me around, I got things done this morning - straightening out the upcoming English classes with the ayuntamiento (city hall).
English classes will begin next Monday, por fin (finally). Two classes, one for adults one for youth, each meeting twice weekly. English class is starting just in time for me. Since school started, the mornings are busy - all morning IT classes and work at the school until it closes at noon - but in the afternoon there’s too much free time. Its the Dominican culture, I know that - you’re supposed to take it easy in the afternoon, eat lunch with your family, nap, sit down, chat, visit, etc. It’s just as important to spend time on people, confianza and relationships as it is to work. And I do those things, but to be honest, not very well. When visiting and chatting with neighbors, all I do is think “Okay, I’m wasting time. I shouldn’t be here. I’m not getting anything accomplished. I’m not helping anyone sitting in this plastic chair.” It’s going to be, and has been, my biggest struggle here - feeling like conversing and visiting with neighbors isn’t as important as “doing something.” Well, at least there's still 21 months to get over that, for now I'll teach English. :o)
Random things of interest (of interest to maybe my mom, that is):
- Met a DR neighbor from Lynn, MA.
- Rode on a moto with 5 people (new personal record).
- Fixed a leaky sink.
- Received two offers to prestar (let me borrow and give back later) mini-fridges. Helps me out so much - have never been so excited to refrigerate things! (Note: the cheapest fridge I’ve come across was $8,800RD, and that’s not exactly cheap).
- Cooked a plantain. Made jugo de limon. Nothing special. Posting a picture so you can know what a cooked plantain and limon juice look like. Not because I’m extremely proud of it or anything... ;)
More September photos:
Taking advantage of free wifi in Santiago
XO
No comments:
Post a Comment